I am looking for a simple method to measure the total alkaloid content in nectar without separation, such as Colorimetric method. My plant is a Solanaceae species. I noticed that some people use methyl orange or bromocresol green to measure alkaloids content in plant resource. But I am not sure whether it works for nectar alkaloids or not. I am really worried about other substance in nectar, such as amino acids and polyphenolics, might interfere the analysis.
Maybe you should first consider doing a quick TLC test for alkaloids by spraying the sample with the Dragendorff's reagent. Cheers
I agree with Olaniyi's suggestion to use a TLC/ Dragendorff reagent approach. This does not get all alkaloids but generally works well for Solanaceae. But, most importantly, it separates your alkaloids from everything else that could interact with the reagents.
Right, Andre. Zha, you can't avoid separation of your samples. You need an HPLC to quantify total alkaloids.
I see that you work with brugmansia, that contains tropane alkaloids. You can in a more viable way quantify these compounds by GC-MS or GC-FID. See more details in Alves et al (2007) J Chem Ecol. 33:297–309 and Arab & Trigo (2011) J Chem Ecol. 37:492–495.
Good luck !!!
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